Castle Enchanter of Elizondo’s Fisherman Tale

Overview

After defeating the serpent and marrying the princess, the first son sees a magnificent castle by moonlight. His wife warns that visitors do not return, but he goes anyway. An old woman admits him through a small, nearly hidden door and presses him to taste the splendidly prepared food. The first mouthful changes him into a terrible monster and prevents departure. The warning well at home boils, prompting the second brother’s journey. Mistaken for the first because they are identical, he reaches the same castle and undergoes the same transformation.

A different old woman meets the third brother outside and tells him not to eat the castle’s food. She provides a cooked pigeon that can instead be offered to its resident. The youth enters with his dog and compels the resident to eat his own food, which gives him power over her. Threatened with the dog’s attack, she shows him the monsters and restores his brothers, their horses and their dogs. The text does not describe the monsters’ bodies beyond their terrible appearance, nor call the helpful old woman another form of the captor.

At court the three identical brothers initially leave the princess uncertain, until the serpent slayer identifies himself. The enchanter is executed in the public square and her castle is given to the newly married pair. These are events inside the named storyteller’s supernatural tale, rather than evidence concerning an accused historical woman. Her identity as an ordinary resident’s appearance concealing transformative power is retained without importing a personal name, devil ancestry or an additional animal disguise.

Origins & earliest records

Webster’s Basque Legends, second edition (London, 1879), prints The Fisherman and His Sons under Catherine Elizondo’s name. This is one attributed English translation of a collected narrative.

Records & interpretation

The complete narrative, pp. 87–94, establishes the actions and outcome. Its serpent rescue and castle transformation are successive episodes, with the speaking fish’s warning well linking the separated family.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Basque Legends: The Fisherman and His Sons

   Wentworth Webster, collector and translator; narrator Catherine Elizondo · 1879

   Second edition, pp. 87–94; complete three-brother rescue and identification ending read.

Family & connections

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References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary collected translationWebster 1879: complete Fisherman and His SonsResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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